My First All Grain Batch

[Sovtek]

Hi everyone
I am new to home brewing. This is my second batch and my first all grain batch. About a year ago i was in Chicago and a bar i was at had Legunitas Imperial Red. This was one of the best beers i have ever tasted, so i am trying to remake something like it with my available supplies.

can anyone here tell me if this recipe looks ok or
if anyone has any comments about it before i start, that would be great!

Here is my recipe
Batch Size 5.00 US gals
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.070 SG
Expected OG: 1.077 SG
Expected FG: 1.017 SG Apparent Attenuation: 76.5 %
Expected ABV: 8.0 %
106.4 IBU
Expected Color (using Morey): 25.4 SRM

Mash Efficiency: 80.0 %
Boil Duration: 60.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 73 degF
Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % MCU When
US 2-Row Malt 8.00 lb 60.4 % 2.9 In Mash/Steeped
AHS Crystal 60L 3.00 lb 22.6 % 36.0 In Mash/Steeped
AHS Caramunich 2.00 lb 15.1 % 16.0 In Mash/Steeped
AHS Special B 0.25 lb 1.9 % 7.5 In Mash/Steeped

Hops
US Warrior 1.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops First Wort Hopped
US Amarillo 1.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops 30 Min From End
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 0.50 oz Loose Pellet Hops 30 Min From End
US Cascade 1.25 oz Loose Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Columbus(Tomahawk) 0.75 oz Loose Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Cascade 1.00 oz Loose Pellet Hops Dry-Hopped

i am using a .8 gallon starter with 1lb of munich malt

 

[Warped04]

I've never had that beer before, but your recipe looks tasty. Just out of curiosity, why the mini mash of Munich for your starter?

 

[Sovtek]

The munich starter is a liquid extract. I didn't have any dme. Will that hurt anything?

 

[Revvy]

The munich starter is a liquid extract. I didn't have any dme. Will that hurt anything?

If it converted and your starter started then no...it should be fine...

It never occurred to me to mash my own starter...I'm sure a lot of brewers do it, but it never entered my mind....You learn something new everyday!

 

[Warped04]

It never occurred to me to mash my own starter...I'm sure a lot of brewers do it, but it never entered my mind....You learn something new everyday!

That's kinda what I was thinking. I know some guys do a batch of it and can it, but I was just thinking about a mini-mash...Something about a 60 minute boil for a starter is kinda bleh

 

[EvilTOJ]

You don't have to do a 60 minute boil if you're just making wort for starters, just 10 minutes will do fine. Mashing usually takes about 30 minutes with today's highly modified grains anyways, so the whole process isn't that long.

 

[Warped04]

Muchos Gracias ETOJ.

 

[zacster]

Sovtek, you must be a tube guy. I use 6B4G myself.

 

[Sovtek]

I wonder if anyone other than you or i got that

Anyway my starter is was an extract not a minimash. I used Austin Homebrew's Munich liquid malt extract to do the job. I think it is a mix of munic and pale malts.

The starter ended up being a like 1.045 og, i was going for 1.040. After 24 hours had passed, fermentation still had not started. After about 29 hours and a lot of shaking, it looks like it may have started very slowly (a tiny bit on the top). Hopefully i will come home today to a fully fermenting starter.